The Federal Reserve System was created in 1913.
Congress established the U.S. central-banking system through the Federal Reserve Act, signed by President Woodrow Wilson on December 23, 1913. The law followed the Panic of 1907, when financial instability exposed weaknesses in the country’s fragmented banking system.
The system was designed as a network rather than a single central bank. Twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks opened in 1914, coordinated by a Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C. Its early responsibilities included issuing an elastic national currency, supervising banks, clearing checks, and serving as a lender of last resort.
A common mix-up is confusing the Federal Reserve’s creation with the beginning of its operations: the legal system dates to 1913, while the regional banks began opening the following year. Another neighboring fact is that the Federal Open Market Committee, which guides open-market operations, was created later by the Banking Act of 1933.